NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26
“You didn’t mishear it. We aren’t mistaken either.”
The screen switches from showing the graph earlier.
Parang recognizes the world map displayed. However, there were red dots spread across the map.
“Those are the last confirmed locations of the Slayers Hunters.”
A man points to various places on the map, naming them.
Arctic Ocean.
“Kang Yuri.”
South China Sea.
“Olivia Cloverfield.”
Caribbean Sea.
“Anna Popov.”
East Sea.
“Alexandra Carmen.”
And then, he continues.
As he points out each red dot on the world map, he names the corresponding individuals.
And the last one.
Pointing to the red dot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a man from Silo speaks up.
” geographically, it’s Hawaii.”
“Lastly, this is the location of Hunter Han Siwoo.”
In this world, Hawaii is an island floating on the sea.
It’s literally that. Despite being physically impossible, a chunk of rock the size of Hawaii is bobbing like a buoy on the ocean.
And no one on Earth questions this fact. Not even Yu Parang herself.
This fact was never mentioned in the novel.
So, what caught Parang’s interest was what the man said.
“The location of Hunter Han Siwoo? What does that even mean?”
Parang wanted to say, “I saw him ascend with my own eyes,” but her words never come out.
“That’s right. They ascended, but at the same time, they went to the ocean floor.”
“Explain it in a way I can understand.”
“The ascension of Hunter Han Siwoo was performed solely by Silo, excluding the World Government and the association.”
Up to this point, Parang knew. Only Silo participated in Hunter Han Siwoo’s ascension ceremony for three significant reasons.
First, at the time of planning the ascension, the Hunter Association and the World Government lacked the ability to carry it out. Silo had even drained most of its potential for the ascension ceremony of the 15 Slayers.
This was also a measure to balance power among the three organizations.
Second, Silo was established directly by Hunter Han Siwoo, so the trust level was extraordinarily high. There was no chance of foul play.
Third, the number of people who knew Hunter Han Siwoo was vanishing from Earth needed to be minimized.
This was part of the knowledge from the original work.
However, the man said something entirely different.
“We were curious. What exactly is this ‘ascension ceremony,’ and where or how does it send the target?”
Even Parang didn’t know the answer to this. It was merely referred to as ‘ascension’; the destination wasn’t specified. Readers interpreted it as a higher realm, heaven, outer space, another planet, etc.
It wasn’t an element that hindered enjoying the novel.
Why did no one question it? Well, that’s just how that novel was.
In a cliché-filled overpowered growth story, the protagonists ‘ascend.’
Everyone thought it would just be something, without caring where it leads.
They simply figured, ‘the author would explain it.’
Even when the main story ended with the ascension, there was little commotion.
An official spin-off was planned, after all.
Let alone that anyone would expect it to lead to the unexpected location of the ‘ocean floor.’
Parang felt it was utterly lamentable that she hadn’t seen this ‘spin-off’ since coming to this world.
Well, anyway. It seemed that this man and Silo were interested in that.
It was the perspective of those who didn’t know this world was a novel.
“So, we mobilized every available method to figure out where Hunter Han Siwoo’s ascension was headed.”
He added that it was naturally agreed upon with the Slayers.
“We utilized helicopters, drones, airplanes, artificial satellites, and even tracking devices. Surprisingly, most yielded meaningful results.”
“Why did you attach tracking devices? You must’ve known it wouldn’t remain during ascension.”
“We inserted them into their bodies.”
“…What?”
“Based on our predictions, while the body is exchanged during ascension, one thing remains unchanged: the blood. So, we created nanometer-sized tracking devices and injected them into every Slayer.”
Injecting tracking devices into blood? Parang was taken aback. They certainly didn’t just use that on the Slayers.
Parang shows her emotions easily. The man paused for a moment as he briefly saw her face but continued without any further mention.
That meant he wouldn’t make excuses.
“Anyway. Using all our methods, we discovered that the destination of the ascension ceremony was right here.”
The red dot precisely marked in Hawaii.
“This is the situation at that time. Let’s take a look.”
Next to the existing monitor, another appeared.
The footage displayed was something Parang was quite familiar with.
It was the live broadcast of the Slayers’ ascension ceremony.
A pillar of light descends upon them above the sea, splashing and crashing. And then, the sky closes.
The live broadcast on the news ended there. But the video in this monitor didn’t stop.
The perspective switched to that of a drone flying above the clouds.
The pillar of light soared endlessly into the sky, with the Slayers continuously ascending.
The screen switched again to footage from a satellite.
The pillar of light extended into space. The Slayers kept going up. And then.
With the pillar of light, they disappeared.
As if the video was deliberately edited to cut off.
Just like that, poof.
Parang felt a strange sensation there.
As if she had been abducted by something.
She couldn’t explain how she felt that way.
She simply felt something, without even realizing she had ‘felt’ it.
“I’m telling you this because you might doubt it, but this is the original footage.”
Parang wasn’t suspicious of that claim. She figured they wouldn’t bother faking anything with the footage at this point.
“At this point, the location signal of all the Slayers has moved beneath Hawaii.”
“How deep is it?”
“6km down.”
“6km….”
“There’s something beneath Hawaii, Yu Parang Hunter.”
Parang frowned at that point. It was something she wondered about since the conversation started.
“There’s nothing down there.”
That’s right. Oceanos would have definitely checked beneath Hawaii. Russell doesn’t live in Hawaii for nothing.
They all went beneath Hawaii. Recently, after Silo released an underwater camera, Russell even posted a commemorative photo.
6km deep is certainly deep, but it’s a place Oceanos has gone.
And there’s nothing there. No Hive, no objects, nothing.
And not even a Monster Fish. Just water.
“Nothing…is there….”
Parang was perplexed at that point.
Why hadn’t she thought it was suspicious back then?
Forget the Hives or Objects, but why was there not even a single Monster Fish in the sea?
“It seems you have some ideas brewing in your mind.”
“I’m not certain.”
It could just be a coincidence.
“May I continue?”
“…Yes.”
Parang held back a moment. Too much information was pouring in real-time. She needed a little time to organize it.
“Anyway. At that location, the 15 Slayers stayed for about 5 hours together. Then, one by one, they all moved to various oceans around the world, except for Hunter Han Siwoo. Afterward, all their location signals ceased. Highly likely, no, almost certainly, they died.”
Parang turned her gaze back to the world map from earlier.
There were dots in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic, Antarctica, and even one in the East Sea next to South Korea.
Parang quickly found a common point.
“Hive.”
“I’m glad we brought you in.”
They moved to Hives around the world.
Parang raised another question here.
“Why this place? I mean, what I’m asking is.”
The fact that they ‘moved’ from Hawaii to the world’s oceans didn’t surprise Parang. This was something mentioned in the original work.
The Slayers ascended carrying ’emergency escape devices’ with them.
A one-time teleportation artifact to a desired location.
The original work just described it as ‘they carried it on them.’ But thinking back now, did they inject it into their blood too?
What Parang was curious about was why they teleported to the ‘Hives beneath the ocean.’
“We don’t know either. That’s why we contacted Yu Parang Hunter to find out.”
As she heard that, Parang interrupted. To summarize the conversation they had so far.
The information obtained from the talk with Silo is as follows:
1. The Slayers disappeared during the ascension ceremony and appeared 6km beneath Hawaii.
2. They faced a situation where they had to use their emergency escape devices after staying there for 5 hours, and everyone except for Hunter Han Siwoo used the devices.
3. But for some reason, they transitioned into Hives spread across the oceans of the world and died.
The outline was roughly framed. Why they sought Parang and why they were trying to protect her and Oceanos.
Silo is now facing something that killed the Slayers at the ocean floor while keeping an eye on the World Government leading people into the sea, and they must discover why the Slayers died.
And what does Oceanos possess?
Unimaginable combat power beneath the sea, the will to protect the world, and Xiao’s ‘Dive.’
They could solve every issue that Silo is facing.
That was the situation, Parang thought.
“It seems you have grasped the gist. Then I’ll speak straightforwardly.”
The man nodded slightly.
“First, find the bodies of the Slayers and see their memories. Second, keep the broadcast ongoing to prevent people from going into the ocean. Third, uncover what lies beneath Hawaii, and whatever it is, eliminate it from the Earth.”
The second condition was something she was already doing, and the third was something she would have done anyway. Whether it’s a monster that killed the Slayers or whatever, it should be dealt with if it’s beneath the ocean.
Some might ask, ‘Are you seriously going to broadcast in this situation?’
But isn’t that the case? Parang’s broadcast is effectively preventing people from diving.
What if Silo tries to seal the coastlines to prevent diving?
The World Government might declare war on them that very day.
For Parang, broadcasting isn’t a particularly difficult task.
To eliminate whatever is below Hawaii that has slain the Slayers, first, she must gather information about it.
To gain information about it, she must see the memories of the Slayers.
To see the Slayers’ memories? They need to search through Hives worldwide.
This process wouldn’t consume much time either with just a little broadcast.
And ultimately, Parang was confident.
Whatever the Slayers fell victim to, she was assured they could win.
Why?
It stemmed from the knowledge of the original work.
Among the members of the Slayers, there is an ability user who can have absolute superiority over ‘inanimate objects.’
So the Slayers weren’t taken down by an inanimate object.
Then what harmed them was a ‘living creature.’
And all ‘living creatures’ beneath the water fall under Parang’s command.
[ Daughter of the Kraken(S) ]
[ Cannot use skills unless fully submerged in water. ]
[ Holds overwhelming superiority over all living beings in the sea. ]
That was the description she saw when she first chose the ‘Daughter of the Kraken’ skill.
It’s a skill that doesn’t even appear in the original work, but she chose it after seeing this description.
What’s important isn’t how to create a spear in the air when she can’t use skills out of water, right?
It’s a function built into the suit.
Well, that’s not what matters.
Maybe Silo knew this to some extent and threw out the conditions.
After concluding that Parang would be capable, they reached out.
And they showed a shrewdness by putting forth ‘conditions that aren’t really conditions.’ This makes it seem like ‘asking to see the memories of the Slayers’ is just a bonus condition.
Of course, that’s not all. There will need to be information shared in between, and sometimes her actions may be limited.
However, considering all that, Parang could receive a lot from Silo.
“What can you offer us?”
This could be seen as a bold declaration, but she was crucial to them.
They wouldn’t easily dare to make a move against her. After all, Silo needs her in perfect condition.
Ultimately, they need to put her in water and see what happens.
Whether her predictions were accurate or not, Silo didn’t mention anything about an ‘ultimatum’ or ‘last resort.’
“We will offer everything Silo can provide. Funds, information, technology, protection on land, artifacts, skill scrolls, anything.”
Parang grinned. Much more generous than she expected.
“Alright. Let’s cooperate.”
The man from Silo also smiled.
“I’m glad to have gained a reliable ally.”
And thus.
On top of the skyscrapers of Hong Kong, the city that never sleeps, an alliance that would shake the world was born.